Nose guard for helmets



June 7, 1960 MORGAN, JR 2,939,149

NOSE GUARD FOR HELMETS Filed Dec. 26, 1957 INVENTOR. zmmw I. Mam/w JA.

United States iPatent O NOSE GUARD FOR HELMETS Gerard E. Morgan, Jr.,Glenview, 111., assignor to John T. Riddell, Inc., Chicago, 111., acorporation of Illinois Filed Dec. 26, 1957, Ser. No. 705,248

7 Claims. c1. 2- -3 This invention relates to a protective device forathletes and the like, particularly to a nose protector or guard adaptedto be detachably secured to a head-protecting helmet.

It is common practice in many sports and in certain hazardousoccupations for the participant to wear a headprotective helmet. Suchhelments may be made of metal, of a synthetic resinous material or ofother suitable substances. In helmets designed to protect the head of awearer from unduly severe blows the shell of the helmet is generallymounted on the head in such way that it is suspended at a suitabledistance from the surface of the head so that the main force of the blowreceived on the outer surface of the shell is absorbed either by thesuspending mechanism itself or by padding which can be located betweenthe shell and the surface of the head. The type of helmet worn generallydepends to some ex tent upon the type of activity in which theindividual is engaged.

One particular type of helmet worn largely by football players andaviators, and to some extent by baseball players, consists of asemi-rigid, flexible shell made from a suitable synthetic resinoussubstance which covers the wearers head above the approximate level ofthe eyebrows and which extends at the back downward over the wearersneck. Suitable dependent sections of the shell are generally provided tocover the jaws of the wearer and such helmets are often fitted with anarcuate face guard which is secured to the jaw sections and whichencircles the face at a suitable distance therefrom at about mouthlevel. Such helmets are often supported on the head by a series oftensioned chordal straps encircling the head of the wearer atapproximately the normal hatband level with the outermost strap beingriveted at a number of points to the helmet shell and the innermoststrap being dimensioned to fit on the wearers head in much the samemanner as an ordinary hntband. Crown straps are provided, one end ofeach of which is secured to the helmet shell. The crown straps extendupward in the helmet and generally terminate at their upper ends inloops or other suitable arrangements through which is passed a loop ofcord which can be loosened or tightened to adjust the size of the crownformed by the crown straps. Gne such suspension is described inconsiderable detail in US. Letters Patent No. 2,250,275 issued July 22,1941 to John T. 'Riddell. In some instances a single crown strap extendsfrom one rivet upward and through an adjustable cord loop and then backto another rivet so that each of its two ends are riveted to the helmetshell.

Helmets of the type just referred to are generally retained on the headby a chin strap which encircles a wearers chin with the ends of thestrap being secured firmly to the dependent jaw sections of the shell.Means are generally provided inside the shell at the back of the wearersneck to absorb the shock of blows received on the neck section of thehelmet shell and the dependent jaw sections of the shell are generallyprovided with internal pads which are effective in absorbing the forceof eyebrows, is forced downward into sharp impact with the ridge of thewearers nose. This can be extremely painful in addition to-the danger offracturing the bones in the nose. It has been recognized that this isone serious disadvantage'of helments of this type which has notheretofore been overcome and it is apparent that any means forovercoming this disadvantage and for eliminating the possibility ofinjury to the wearers nose by the tipping forward of the helmet would beof great value.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide meansfor protecting the nose of a wearer of a helmet from injury due to thetipping forward of the helmet on the wearers head.

An additional object is to provide apparatus which can be used inconjunction with a helmet having a head encircling shell and a tensionedchordal strap suspension which will prevent impact of the edge of theshell with a wearers nose should the shell be tipped forward violentlyon the wearers head.

An additional object is to provide a helmet having a semi-rigid shelland a suspension composed of tensioned chordal straps which is equippedwith a device for absorbing the force of the impact of the forward edgeof the shell with a wearers nose should the shell be tipped violentlyforward.

An additional object is to provide a nose guard which can be attached toor detached from a helmet having a semi-rigid shell and a chordal strapsuspension which will eifectively protect the nose of a wearer of thehelmet from impact with the forward edge of the helmet shellshock-absorbing element or member, such as a roughly cylindrical lengthof the material from which the sheet is made having longitudinal holesthrough it to increase its shock-absorbing properties. Theshock-absorbing element is usually formed so that it lies entirely onone side,

of the flexible sheet in a manner such that, when the flexible basesheet is placed in surface contact with the inside surface of theforward section of a helmet shell with the shock-absorbing elementprotruding outwardly of the shell along its edge, it will form aneffective guard or bumper and soften greatly the impact of the edge ofthe shell upon a wearers nose should the shell be tipped violentlyforward. With the device just described mounted in the way described onthe helmet shell immediately above a wearers nose, a sharp tiltingforward of the shell on the head will bring'the elongated shockabsorbingelement, rather than the hard edge of the helmet itself into contactwith the wearers nose and injury will thus be prevented. Adequate means,which will be described, are provided to secure the device to a helmentwith the shock-absorbing element located above a wearers nose. 7 i

The invention can be understoodreadily by reference to the accompanyingdrawing wherein, inthe interest "of clarity, certain features are shownon a somewhat exaggerated scale and wherein 1 9 Figure 1 is a plan viewof a-nose guard embodying features of the invention which can bedetachably secured toahelmet; f

Figure 21s :a side elevation taken along the line II -II of Figure 1,:

Figure-3 v havinga nose guard oftheinvention secured to it,

Figure .4 isa vertical elevation, ':partially in section,

taken-alongstheline IV--I-V of :Figure'3f- Figure .5 is a verticalelevation;:partially in section, taken along the line-V'V of Figure- 3,and a is an elevation of :a head protecting helm t:

Figure 6 is a partial elevation; with certain of-the-parts partiallycut. away, taken alongthe Iine-NI- -Y'I of Figure 5.

Themodificationof-the nose guard of the invention-- illustrated inFigures 1 and2 comprises a flexible resilientbase sheet 11- of rubber orother suitably flexible -andresilient: material having ashock-absorbingelement 12 secured along one of its edges 13.

In view of... the fact that .the' device of-Figure l is mounted in ;ahelmet with' the base sheet 11 extending upwardly away from theshock-absorbing'element '12, his convenient to refer toithe edge 13 of:the sheet adjoining the element 12 as zits ilower edge, tor-its edge 18opposite the lower edge as its upper edge and to the two remaining edges16: as its lateral edges. Although the-base sheet may beessentiallysquare or rectangular, it is convenientto' referto its longitudinaldimension as extending bedimension as extending between its lateraledges16.

' In practice, the base sheet 11 and the shock-absorbing element '12 areconveniently formed of the same material and. are molded integral withone another. The shockabsorbing element 12 is preferably formed-so thatit lies tweenthe lower and rupper edges and to"its1lateral entirelyononeside of the sheet 11 in the manner illustrated ,in Figure 2.

of material extending across the entire width of the sheet In aconvenient form the shockabsorbing element 12 is formed as a roughlycircular-body 11. andhaving a number of longitudinal holes 14 extendingthrough it; However, the shock-absorbing element can be:-of any othersuitable construction, if desired, and

may even be formed separately from the sheet 11 and t then securedthereto in any convenient and suitable man flexible sheet 11 extendingin each direction from a point midway between. the lateral edges 16 ofthe sheet for a suitable distance toward the lateral edges 16 along aline parallel with and removed a suitable distance from the lower edge13 of the sheet. The sheet is also provided with a longitudinal slit 17extending from the midpoint of the lower laterally extending slit 15 tothe upper edge 18 of the sheet, thus dividing the. portion of the sheetabove the slit 15 into two half sections. An upper laterally extendingslit 19 is also provided in the A lower laterally extending slit 15 isprovided in the their bases by an unslitted lateral section 25 of thesheet.

Theupper tonguesM-are provided with means for se- I curing themtogether. One convenient means comprises a snap fastener with the maleand female parts of the fastener, 26 and 30, respectively, beingattached to the two tongues 24 adjacent their facing ends. When usingsuch a snap fastener the two tongues 24 are overlapped during thefastening operation thus drawing the ends of the laterally extendingslit 19 closer together. For this reason it is convenient to make theupper laterally extending slit 19 longer than therlo'wer -laterallyextending slit 15, the degree of slope being such that, when the twotongues 24 are fastened together as shown in Figure 6,-

the upper and lower edges ofone-of the tongues 24 are essentiallyparallel with the upper and lower edges, respectively, ofthe'other'of'the tongues 24. Undersuch con dit'ions a somewhat morerigid joining of the two tongues' 24 is obtained than would be the baseif they sloped with respecttoone another when in their joined relationship. It is, of course, entirely feasible to form the upper edge; 18ofthe base sheet 11 and the slit 19 so that" they extend esentiallyparallel with the slit' 15 and this configuration is preferred" ininstances-where the tongues 24" are'fastened together without beingoverlapped, e.g. as"

by a hook attached to one and an eyelet attached to theiot-her.

The lengths and locations of the'laterally extending slits 15 and19,areof some importance. Inasmuch as the noseguardof Figures 1 and 2 isadapted primarily to be used with a helmet of the'type previouslymentioned having a shell, the lower forward edge of which extendsessentially'horizontally above the level of awearers eyes and thesuspension of which comprises tensioned sections of an outer chordalstrap and a crown strap both se--' cured at the front center of thehelmet shell by a rivet' passing through the shell and with thetensioned sections of the outer chordal strap adjacent the rivet lyingentirely above the forward edge of the shell, it is convenient for thelaterally extending slits 15 and 19 to be spaced from" one another adistance equal to, or just slightly greater than, the width of thetensioned sections of the outer chordal strap and for the lowerlaterally extending slit 15 to be spaced from the lower edge 13 of theflexible sheet 11 located between the lower laterally extending slit 15and the upper edge 18 of the sheet and extending from the longitudinalslit 17' for a suitable distance outward'toward the lateral edges 16 ofthe sheet. Small circular holes 21 are preferably formed in the sheet atthe ends of the laterally extending slits 15 and 19 to reduce'thetendency for the sheet to tear at the ends of the,

slits. A similar hole 22 can also be formed at the intersectionzof theupper laterally extending slit 19. and the longitudinal slit '17, ifdesired, to facilitate the slitting operation, the holes 21 and 22generally being formed prior to the, slitting operation.

It will be noted that the laterally extending slits 15 and I19.divideeachhalf section of the sheet 11 lyingabove thelowerilaterallyextending slit 15 into lower and upper tongue-like sections 23 and 24,respectively, each of which projects toward the correspondingtongue-like section of the ppposite half. section, ,.and iwhich are.joined along sheet 11 by a distance equal to or just slightly less thanthe vertical distance between the lower edge of the tensioned outerchordal strap and the edge of the helmet shell just below the rivet. Aswill be apparent later, the incorporation of these provisions in thenose guard of Figure l insures the shock-absorbing element 12 being"held firmly and snuglyagainst the lower edge of'the helmet shellimmediately abovethe 'wearers nose and avoids any possibility of itsbeing displaced from this location short of removal from the helmet orof actual injury. When properly mounted on a helmet'it will be observedfrom Figure 3 that the shock-absorbing element 12 extends transverselyimmediately above the wearer's nose and that it lies along the loweredge) of the helmet shell 27 and protrudes forwardly past the edge ofthe shell in a position such that, should the helmet shell be tippedforward on the wearers head, it is the soft shock-absorbing element 12which comes into contact with the ridge" of the wearers nose and not thehard lower edge of the 4 shell.

The relationship of the nose'pro't ector to the parts of the helmet, andthe manner in which it is secured in place; are illustratedin Figures 4,'5 and.6. In Figure 4, which wit,"

sesame g is a view looking upward into a helmet of the type underconsideration from a plane just above the level of a wearers eyes, itwill be observed that the helmet shell 27 is fitted internally with anouter chordal strap 28 which is secured at several points, usually sixpoints, to the in terior of the shell by rivets 29, the rivet at thefront of the shell being obscured in Figure 4 by the shock-absorbingelement 12 but being visible in Figure 5. The shell is also fitted witha plurality of crown straps 31, usually six in number, which are securedto the helmet shell by the same rivets 29 which secure the outer chordalstraps to the shell. The crown straps 31 extend inwardly and upwardlywith respect to the helmet shell and are secured in adjustable manner attheir upper ends, thus forming a network of straps which rest upon thecrown of the wearers head. In the illustration of Figure 4 each twoadjacent crown straps are formed as a unitary strap, the ends of whichare secured to the shell by adjacent rivets and the central part ofwhich passes through a loop of cordage 32. By adjusting the size of theloop of cordage 32, the fit of the helmet on the crown of the wearershead can be adjusted in suitable fashion. It is convenient and usual forthe lower ends of the crown straps 31, which are secured to the helmetshell by the rivets 29, to lie between the helmet shell and the outerchordal strap 28 in the region of the rivet. A tensioned inner chordalstrap 33 is fastened securely, eg by sewing as at 34, to the outerchordal strap at points equidistant between the rivets 29 and is of sucha length that it forms a suitable headband encircling the head of awearer of the helmet. A part or all of the inner chordal strap can, ifdesired, be covered with soft leather 35, or the like, in the interestof comfort.

It will be noted further from Figure 4 that the shockabsorbing element12 of the nose guard lies along the lower edge 40 of the forward portionof the shell 27 and that it juts forward for some distance beyond therim of the helmet. It will also be noted from Figures 4 and 5 that thelower tongues 23 are folded inwardly of the helmet shell and outwardlyaway from the longitudinal center line of the flexible sheet 11 so thatthey lie between the shell 27 and the tensioned sections of the outerchordal strap 28 on either side of the rivet 29 at the front of thehelmet shell. Because of the resiliency of the tongues 23 and theirtendency to straighten and extend toward one another, they press on theouter surface of the strap 28 and thus serve to keep the lateralsections 25 of the flexible base sheet pressed firmly and snugly againstthe interior surface of the shell. This relationship is illustratedespecially clearly in Figure 5 which corresponds to the view of Figure 4except that it is taken along a plane which includes the line of thelower laterally extending slit 15.

The relationship of the parts with the nose guard secured in place isalso illustrated clearly in Figure 6, which is a view taken lookingforwardly from inside the helmet from approximately the level of therivet 29. It will be noted that the tensioned segments of the outerchordal strap 28 extend laterally with respect to the viewer and that acrown strap 31 extends from approximately the lower edge of the outerchordal strap upward into the helmet and that the straps are secured inthis position by means of the rivet 29 and a convenient metal plate 36extending essentially across the chordal strap 28 to maintain it undertension clear to its edges. The shockabsorbing element 12 lies snuglyalong the edge of the helmet shell. The unslitted side sections 25 ofthe flexible sheet extend upward on either side of the crown strap 31between the helmet shell and the sections of the chordal strap 28 lyingon either side of the rivet 29 and the tongues 24 are overlapped andsecured together, by means of the snap fastener 26, above the strap 28and between the shell 27 and the crown strap 31. The tongues 23 lyingbetween the laterally extending slits 15 and 19 of Figure 1 are turnedinwardly of the helmet and outwardly toward the lateral edges of theflexible sheet 11 and are positioned between the chordal strap 28 andthe unslitted section 25 of the flexible sheet, the section 25 lyingfiat against the inner surface of the shell 27. It will be noted inFigure 6 that, because the tongues are overlapped, the lateral edges ofthe flexible sheet con verge upwardly toward one another. However,because the upper edge 18 of the flexible sheet 11 and the upperlaterally extending slit 19 are formed in the sloping manner illustratedin Figure 1, the upper and lower edges of the fastened tongues 24 areparallel with one another and the lateral sections 25 of the base sheetare retained snugly in position. Furthermore, it will be noted that,with the tongues 24 overlapping one another, the ends of the upperlaterally extending slit 19 are brought closer to one another Whereasthe ends of the lower laterally extending slit 15 are brought verylittle closer to one another, if at all, and the outer ends of the slits15 and 19 are approximately on a line normal to the longitudinal axis ofthe shock-absorbing element 12 and to the planes of the edges of thechordal strap 28. For this reason the tongues 23 in their turned-backposition, and with the tongues 24 in overlapping relationship, extendwith their upper and lower edges essentially parallel with the upper andlower edges of the adjacent sections of the chordal strap 28 so that theturned-back tongues press smoothly and evenly against the strap 28 overits entire width.

-Although the invention is concerned primarily with a nose guard, suchas that described previously, which can be attached and detached readilyfrom a helmet comprise ing a rigid or semi-rigid shell and a tensionedchordalstrap suspension, it is pointed out that in its broadest aspectthe invention contemplates any helmet having a hard rigid or semi-rigidshell, an edge of which extends essentially horizontally above a wearerseye level, provided with an elongated shock-absorbing element ofsuitable dimensions which is separate from the shell and positioned sothat it extends horizontally just below the forward edge of the shelland projects forwardly thereof above the region of the wearers nose, andwhich is joined to a suitable base element which is in turn secured tothe helmet in a manner to retain the shock-absorbing element in theposition indicated. Although it is preferable that the nose guard beseparably secured to the helme it is entirely feasible to provide aguard similar to that of Figure 1 except that thebase sheet extendsupward only to approximately the location of the slit 15 and to thenrivet the short base sheet to the inner surface of the helmet shell sothat the shock-absorbing element '12 occupies the position illustratedin Figure 3. Alternatively the short base sheet can be adhered with asuitable adhesive in the position indicated. In the case of a helmetretained on a wearers head by means other than the particular kind ofsuspension illustrated in Figure 4, it is entirely feasible to constructthe base element of the nose guard in suitable manner so that it can besecured to the helmet either separably or permanently with theshock-absorbing element in the position just described.

I claim:

1. In a head-protective helmet, the combination including: a semi-rigidshell surrounding at least the upper part of a wearers head andterminating at the front in a front edge extending essentiallyhorizontally above the eye level of a wearer; a chordal suspension strapsecured with a plurality of securing means inside the shell; anelongated shock-absorbing element separate from the shell extending fora suitable distance immediately below the forward edge of the shell .andprojecting forwardly thereof above the region of the nose of a wearer ofthe helmet; and a base element joined along its edge with theshock-absorbing element and extending upwardly therefrom away from theedge of the shell between the shell and the chordal strap, the baseelement being slitted to provide sections thereof extending on oppositesides of a means securing the strap to the shell and the sections beingseparably joined to one another above the securing means whereby theshock-absorbing element is retained in its position.

2.'In a nose guard adapted to be detachably secured to a head-protectivehelmet comprising a helmet shell and a tensioned chordal strapsuspension secured with a plurality of securing means inside the shell,the combination including: a'fiexible, resilient base sheet havinglower, lateral and upper edges; a resilient, shock-absorbing elementintegral with the base sheet along its lower edge; a lower laterallyextending slit formed in the base sheet extending parallel with and at asuitable distance from the lower edge of the sheet toward its lateraledges from a point midway therebetween; an upper laterally extendingslit formed in the base sheet located a suitable distance from the upperedge of the sheet and extending toward its lateral edges from a pointmidway therebetween; a slit formed in the base sheet extendinglongitudinally of the 'base sheet from the midpoint of the lowerlaterally extending slit to the midpoint of the upper edge of the sheetand intersecting the upper laterally extending slit, the slits dividingthe portion of the sheet above the lower laterally extending slit intotwo sections each of which comprises an upper and lower tongue integralat their bases with an unslitted lateral section of the sheet with eachtongue facing a corresponding tongue in the other section; and meansassociated with the two upper tongues adapted to secure them together tosecure the nose guard to a helmet with the upper tongues disposedimmediately above the chordal strap, with the lateral unslitted sectionsof the flexible base sheet disposed on opposite sides of a meanssecuring the chordal strap to the helmet shell, and with the lowertongues disposed between the chordal strap and the helmet shell witheach tongue being folded inwardly of the helmet shell and outwardly awayfrom the longitudinal center line of the base sheet.

3. A nose guard as claimed in claim 2 wherein the lower and upperlaterally extending slits are separated 'by a distanceas great as thewidth of the chordal strap of the suspension of the helmet in which theguard is to be installed. 7 I

4. A nose guard as claimed in claim 2 wherein the ends of the uppertongues are overlapped when joined together and the upper laterallyextending slit is longer than the lower laterally extending slit by adistance essentially equal to the length of overlap of the uppertongues.

5. A nose guard as claimed in claim 2 wherein the ends of the uppertongues are overlapped when joined together and theupper laterallyextending slit is inclined on each side of the longitudinal slit towardthe lower laterally extending slit by an amount to cause the lower edgesofthe upper tongues to extend approximately parallel with'the lowerlaterally extending slit when the upper tongues are secured to oneanother.

6. A nose guard as claimed in claim 5 wherein the base member is formedwith its upper edge parallel on each side of the longitudinal slit withthe upper laterally extending slit. 7

7. A nose guard as claimed in claim 2 wherein the shock-absorbingelement secured along the lower edge of the base member is thicker thanthe base member and extends entirely on one side thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,522,952 Goldsmith Jan. 13, 1925 1,842,953 Turner Jan. 26, 19322,793,366 Kleinman May 28, 1957 2,878,478 Kleinman Mar. 24, 1959

